Energy harvesting from a mobile device

ABSTRACT

According to one implementation, a system for harvesting energy from a mobile device includes a housing having a receptacle for receiving the mobile device, a battery situated within the housing, an energy collection interface including at least one transducer coupled to the battery by a power bus, and one or more auxiliary electronic components coupled to the battery by the power bus. The system is configured to receive, via the receptacle, the mobile device, and to receive, via the energy collection interface, an energy emitted by the mobile device. The system is also configured to generate, by the one or more transducers, a current, using the energy received from the mobile device, and to feed, via the power bus, the current to at least one of the battery and the at least one auxiliary electronic component.

BACKGROUND

Mobile devices such as smartphones, tablet computers, and smartwatchesmay be connected to various external devices to provide users withproductive and entertaining experiences. For example, some augmentedreality (AR) viewing systems are designed to accept a smartphone inorder to display virtual digital imagery superimposed over images of areal physical environment.

In some such applications, it may be advantageous or desirable to addelectronic features to the system into which the mobile device isinserted or attached. For instance, lights, amplifiers, speakers, andother auxiliary electronics can significantly enhance the utility of themobile-embedded or mobile-connected system. However, conventionalsolutions for powering those auxiliary electronics can undesirably addto the cost, weight, size, and complexity of mobile-embedded ormobile-connected systems.

SUMMARY

There are provided systems and methods for energy harvesting from amobile device, substantially as shown in and/or described in connectionwith at least one of the figures, and as set forth more completely inthe claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 A shows a front view of an exemplary system for harvesting energyfrom a mobile device, according to one implementation;

FIG. 1B shows a top view of the exemplary system of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 1C shows a cross-sectional view of the exemplary system of FIGS. 1Aand 1B along perspective lines 1C-1C in FIG. 1B;

FIG. 1D shows exemplary energy harvesting circuitry for use in thesystem of FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C, according to one implementation; and

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart presenting an exemplary method for harvestingto energy from a mobile device, according to one implementation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description contains specific information pertaining toimplementations in the present disclosure. One skilled in the art willrecognize that the present disclosure may be implemented in a mannerdifferent from that specifically discussed herein. The drawings in thepresent application and their accompanying detailed description aredirected to merely exemplary implementations. Unless noted otherwise,like or corresponding elements among the figures may be indicated bylike or corresponding reference numerals. Moreover, the drawings andillustrations in the present application are generally not to scale, andare not intended to correspond to actual relative dimensions.

As stated above, mobile devices such as smartphones, tablet computers,and smartwatches may be connected to various external devices to provideusers with productive and entertaining experiences. As one example, someaugmented reality (AR) viewing systems are designed to accept asmartphone in order to display virtual digital imagery superimposed overimages of a real physical environment. As another example, a holographicviewer may provide a virtual holographic display including imagingoptics designed to create an illusion of a floating three-dimensional(3D) image from objects rendered on the display screen of a smartphoneor tablet computer that is inserted into the holographic viewer.

As also stated above, in some such applications, it may be advantageousor desirable to add electronic features to the system into which themobile device is inserted or attached. For instance, lights, amplifiers,speakers, sensors, and/or other auxiliary electronics can significantlyenhance the utility of a mobile-embedded or mobile-connected system.However, conventional solutions for powering those auxiliary electronicscan undesirably add to the cost, weight, size, and complexity ofmobile-embedded or mobile-connected systems.

The present application discloses solutions for harvesting energy from amobile device that address and overcome the deficiencies in theconventional art described above. By receiving a mobile device via areceptacle of a system housing designed to accept the mobile device, thepresent solution can orient the mobile device for energy harvesting. Inaddition, by utilizing one or more transducers of an energy collectinginterface of the system to receive energy emitted by the mobile device,the present solution results in generation of an electric current(hereinafter “current”) from the emitted energy. Moreover, by feedingthe current to a battery and/or one or more auxiliary electroniccomponents of the system via a power bus of the system, the presentsolution advantageously enables powering of the auxiliary electroniccomponent or components using the energy harvested from the mobiledevice.

FIG. 1A shows a front view of an exemplary system for harvesting energyfrom a mobile device, according to one implementation. As shown in FIG.1A, system 100 includes rigid or semi-rigid case or housing 101(hereinafter “housing 101”) having front side 102, viewing portal 106situated at front side 102, and a receptacle for receiving mobile device110. Also shown in FIG. 1A is mobile device 110 depicted as having beenreceived within the receptacle of system 100 provided for that purpose.

System 100 may be implemented as an augmented reality (AR) viewingsystem, for example, designed to receive mobile device 110 in the formof a smartphone or tablet computer. In such an implementation, system100 may display virtual digital imagery superimposed over images of areal physical environment of a user of system 100, via viewing portal106. Alternatively, system 100 may be implemented as a virtual reality(VR) viewing system, designed to receive mobile device 110 in the formof a smartphone or tablet computer and to display a fully immersivevirtual environment independent of the real physical environment of theuser. In yet another implementation, system 100 may take the form of aholographic viewer providing a virtual holographic display.

Viewing portal 106 may take the form of a liquid crystal display (LCD),a light-emitting diode (LED) display, an organic light-emitting diode(OLED) display, or another suitable display screen that performs aphysical transformation of signals to light. Alternatively, viewingportal 106 may include imaging optics designed to create an illusion ofa floating 3D image from one or more objects rendered on a displayscreen of mobile device 110, which may itself be any of an LCD, LEDdisplay, OLED display or another suitable display screen that performs aphysical transformation of signals to light.

FIG. 1B shows a top view of system 100 for harvesting energy from mobiledevice 110. FIG. 1B shows housing 101 of system 100, including frontside 102, also shown in FIG. 1A, and back side 104 opposite front side102. FIG. 1B further shows a top view of mobile device 110 inserted intosystem 100, i.e., received by the receptacle of system 100.

FIG. 1C shows a cross-sectional view of exemplary system 100 alongperspective lines 1C-1C in FIG. 1B. FIG. 1C more clearly depictsreceptacle 108 of system 100, which is designed to receive mobile device110. It is noted that, although in the exemplary implementation ofsystem 100 described thus far, system 100 is designed to receive mobiledevice 110, but does not include mobile device 110, in otherimplementations, system 100 may include mobile device 110.

As note above, mobile device 110 may take the form of a smartphone ortablet computer, for example. Other examples of mobile device 110 caninclude a digital media player, or a smartwatch or other smart wearableitem. As shown in FIG. 1C, mobile device 110 includes case 126 enclosinghardware processor 114 and memory 116. In addition, mobile device 110may include one or more of light source 122, radio frequency (RF)transmission coil 124, and speaker 128. Moreover, in implementations inwhich mobile device 110 is included as part of system 100, mobile devicemay include energy transfer application 118 stored in memory 116.

FIG. 1D shows exemplary energy harvesting circuitry situated withinhousing 101 of system 100, according to one implementation. It is notedthat the circuitry shown in FIG. 1D is depicted as though “seen through”back side 104 of housing 101.

According to the present exemplary implementation, the energy harvestingcircuitry of system 100 includes battery 132, energy collectioninterface 140 including one or more of light sensitive transducer 142,RF signal transducer 144, thermal transducer 146, and acoustictransducer 148. As shown in FIG. 1D, the one or more of light sensitivetransducer 142, RF signal transducer 144, thermal transducer 146, andacoustic transducer 148 is/are coupled to battery 132 by power bus 130of system 100. Also shown in FIG. 1D are battery level indicators 136aand 136b, and one or more auxiliary electronic component(s) 134 ofsystem 100, coupled to battery 132 by power bus 130.

Battery level indicators 136 a and 136 b may be implemented as coloredLEDs, for instance. As a specific example, battery level indicator 136 amay be a high battery level indicator designed to emit green light whena state-of-charge (SOC) of battery 132 meets or exceeds a predeterminedthreshold. By analogy, battery level indicator 136 b may be a lowbattery level indicator designed to emit red light when the SOC ofbattery 132 meets or falls below the same or another predeterminedthreshold. It is noted that although the feature identified by referencenumber 132 has heretofore been referred to as battery 132, in anotherimplementation, that feature may be implemented using a capacitor, i.e.,capacitor 132.

One or more auxiliary electronic component(s) 134 of system 100 may takea variety of forms. For instance, auxiliary electronic component(s) 134may include one or more of a light or lights, an amplifier oramplifiers, a speaker or speakers, a sensor or sensors, and a motor ormotors, to name a few examples.

As noted above, energy collection interface 140 includes one or more oflight sensitive transducer 142, RF signal transducer 144, thermaltransducer 146, and acoustic transducer 148. That is to say, energycollection interface 140 may include multiple transducers, each designedto convert a different type of energy to current. In addition, energycollection interface 140 may further include other commonly utilizedcircuit elements known in the art, such as a voltage converter and/orregulator coupled to power bus 130 and designed to output a directcurrent (DC) voltage, such as a nominal 3.5 volts DC, for example, topower bus 130.

Light sensitive transducer 142 may include a photo-voltaic cell, forexample, positioned within housing 101 so as to capture light energyemitted by light source 122 of mobile device 110 when mobile device 110is received in receptacle 108. Light sensitive transducer 142 isdesigned to convert the light emitted by mobile device 110 to a currentfor charging battery 132 and/or for powering one or more auxiliaryelectronic component(s) 134 of system 100. RF signal transducer 144 mayinclude an RF inductive pickup designed to generate a current byinductive coupling to an RF signal, such as a cellular, WiFi, orBluetooth signal, for example, emitted by RF transmission coil 124 ofmobile device 110. RF signal transducer 144 is designed to convert theRF signal emitted by mobile device 110 to a current for charging battery132 and/or for powering one or more auxiliary electronic component(s)134 of system 100.

Thermal transducer 146 may include a thereto-electric converter such asa Peltier cell, for example, positioned within housing 101 so as tocontact case 126 of mobile device 110 when mobile device 110 is receivedin receptacle 108, and to absorb heat generated by mobile device 110.Thermal transducer 146 is designed to convert heat generated by mobiledevice 110 to a current for charging battery 132 and/or for powering oneor more auxiliary electronic component(s) 134 of system 100. Acoustictransducer 148 may include a sol-gel or resonant cavity, for example,designed to convert sound emitted by mobile device 110 when mobiledevice 110 is received in receptacle 108 to a current for chargingbattery 132 and/or for powering one or more auxiliary electroniccomponent(s) 134 of system 100. As a specific example, acoustictransducer 148 may include a resonant cavity lined with a piezoelectricmaterial and designed to resonate at approximately 500 hertz.

The functionality of system 100 will be further described by referenceto FIG. 2 in combination with FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D. FIG. 2 showsflowchart 250 presenting an exemplary method for harvesting energy froma mobile device, according to one implementation. With respect to themethod outlined in FIG. 2, it is noted that certain details and featureshave been left out of flowchart 250 in order not to obscure thediscussion of the inventive features in the present application.

Flowchart 250 begins with receiving, by system 100, mobile device 110via receptacle 108 designed to accept mobile device 110 (action 252). Asnoted above, system 100 may be an AR, VR, or holographic viewing system,for example. In those exemplary implementations, a user of system 100may utilize viewing portal 106 in conjunction with a display screen ofmobile device 110 received by system 100 via receptacle 108 to enjoy arespective AR, VR, or holographic viewing experience.

Flowchart 250 continues with receiving, via energy collection interface140 of system 100, energy emitted by mobile device 110 (action 254). Asnoted above, energy collection interface 140 may include one or more oflight sensitive transducer 142, RF signal transducer 144, thermaltransducer 146, and acoustic transducer 148. Consequently, system 100may be designed to receive one or more of light emitted by mobile device110, RF signals emitted by mobile device 110, heat generated by mobiledevice 110, and sound emitted by mobile device 110, via energycollection interface 140.

Flowchart 250 continues with generating, by one or more of lightsensitive transducer 142, RF signal transducer 144, thermal transducer146, and acoustic transducer 148, a current using the energy receivedfrom mobile device 110 (action 256). For example, in implementations inwhich energy collection interface 140 includes light sensitivetransducer 142, system 100 may use light sensitive transducer 142 toconvert light emitted by mobile device 110 to current. Alternatively, orin addition, in implementations in which energy collection interface 140includes RF signal transducer 144, system 100 may use RF signaltransducer 144 to convert RF signals emitted by mobile device 110 tocurrent.

As a further alternative or additional source of current, inimplementations in which energy collection interface 140 includesthermal transducer 146, system 100 may use thermal transducer 146 toconvert heat generated by mobile device 110 to current. As yet anotherexemplary alternative or additional source of current, inimplementations in which energy collection interface 140 includesacoustic transducer 148, system 100 may use acoustic transducer 148 toconvert sound emitted by mobile device 110 to current.

Flowchart 250 can conclude with feeding, via power bus 130, the currentgenerated in action 256 to battery 132 and/or to one or more auxiliaryelectronic component(s) 134 of system 100 (action 258). Thus, system 100can advantageously use one or more of emitted light, RF signals, oremitted sound from mobile device 110, or heat generated by mobile device110, for charging battery 132 and/or for powering one or more auxiliaryelectronic component(s) 134.

As noted above, in some implementations, system 100, in addition tobeing designed to receive mobile device 110 via receptacle 108, mayinclude mobile device 110 as one of its features. In thoseimplementations, mobile device 110 may include energy transferapplication 118 stored in memory 116. Moreover, in thoseimplementations, hardware processor 114 of mobile device 110 may executeenergy transfer application 118 to participate in harvesting of energyfrom mobile device 110 in various ways.

For instance, in one such implementation, hardware processor 114 mayexecute is energy transfer application 118 to detect a battery chargestatus of battery 132 from battery level indicators 136 a and 136 b,which may be respective green and red LED light indicators, for example.In one exemplary implementation, hardware processor 114 may executeenergy transfer application 118 to activate a camera of mobile device110 to detect whether high battery level indicator 136 a is emittinggreen light or low battery level indicator 136 b is emitting red light.In implementations in which hardware processor 114 executes energytransfer application 118 to detect a battery charge status of battery132, hardware processor 114 may further execute energy transferapplication 118 to selectively initiate energy emission by mobile device110 when the SOC of battery 132 is determined to be low.

In addition, or alternatively, hardware processor 114 may execute energytransfer application 118 to detect the one or more transducers142/144/146/148 included in energy collection interface 140, and tocause mobile device 110 to emit energy as a type of energy convertibleby one or more of the detected transducer(s) to a current. For example,hardware processor 114 may execute energy transfer application 118 toutilize near-field communication (NFC) capabilities of mobile device 110to detect and identify the type or types of transducers included inenergy collection interface 140, and to advantageously cause mobiledevice 110 to emit energy capable of being converted to current bythat/those transducer(s).

Thus, the present application discloses solutions for harvesting energyfrom a mobile device. By receiving a mobile device via a receptacle of asystem housing designed to accept the mobile device, the presentsolution can orient the mobile device for energy harvesting. Inaddition, by utilizing one or more transducers of an energy collectinginterface of the system to receive energy emitted by the mobile device,the present solution results in generation of a current from the emittedenergy. Moreover, by feeding the current to a battery and/or one or moreauxiliary electronic components of the system via a power bus of thesystem, the present solution advantageously enables powering of theauxiliary electronic component or components using the energy harvestedfrom the mobile device.

From the above description it is manifest that various techniques can beused for implementing the concepts described in the present applicationwithout departing from the scope of those concepts. Moreover, while theconcepts have been described with specific reference to certainimplementations, a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognizethat changes can be made in form and detail without departing from thescope of those concepts. As such, the described implementations are tobe considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. Itshould also be understood that the present application is not limited tothe particular implementations described herein, but manyrearrangements, modifications, and substitutions are possible withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system configured to harvest energy from amobile computing device having a display, the system comprising: ahousing including a receptacle for attaching to and detaching from themobile computing device; a battery situated within the housing; anenergy collection interface including at least one transducer coupled tothe battery by a power bus; and a holographic viewer coupled to thebattery by the power bus; the system configured to: receive, via thereceptacle, the mobile computing device; receive, via the energycollection interface, an energy emitted by the mobile computing device;generate, by the at least one transducer, a current, using the energyreceived from the mobile computing device; feed, via the power bus, thecurrent to the battery coupled to the holographic viewer; and provide,using the holographic viewer powered by the battery, imaging optics tocreate an illusion of a floating three-dimensional (3D) image fromobjects rendered on the display of the mobile computing device.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the at least one transducer comprises aplurality of transducers each configured to convert a different type ofenergy to the current.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at leastone transducer is configured to convert light emitted by the mobilecomputing device to the current.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein theat least one transducer is configured to convert a radio frequency (RF)signal emitted by the mobile computing device to the current.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the at least one transducer is configured toconvert heat generated by the mobile computing device to the current. 6.The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one transducer is configuredto convert sound emitted by the mobile computing device to the current.7. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile computing device includes ahardware processor and a memory storing an energy transfer application.8. The system of claim 7, wherein the system is further configured to,before receiving the energy emitted by the mobile computing device viathe energy collection interface: detect, by the mobile computing deviceand using the energy transfer application, the at least one transducerof the energy collection interface; and emit, by the mobile computingdevice and using the energy transfer application, the energy as a typeof energy convertible by the transducer to the current.
 9. A method foruse by a system configured to harvest energy from a mobile computingdevice having a display, the system comprising a housing including areceptacle for attaching to and detaching from the mobile computingdevice, a battery situated within the housing, an energy collectioninterface including at least one transducer coupled to the battery by apower bus, and a holographic viewer coupled to the battery by the powerbus, the method comprising: receiving, via the receptacle, the mobilecomputing device; receiving, via the energy collection interface, anenergy emitted by the mobile computing device; generating, by the atleast one transducer, a current, using the energy received from themobile computing device; feeding, via the power bus, the current to thebattery coupled to the holographic viewer; and providing, using theholographic viewer powered by the battery, imaging optics to create anillusion of a floating three-dimensional (3D) image from objectsrendered on the display of the mobile computing device.
 10. The methodof claim 9, wherein the at least one transducer comprises a plurality oftransducers each configured to convert a different type of energy to thecurrent.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the at least one transduceris configured to convert light emitted by the mobile computing device tothe current.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the at least onetransducer is configured to convert a radio frequency (RF) signalemitted by the mobile computing device to the current.
 13. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the at least one transducer is configured to convertheat generated by the mobile computing device to the current.
 14. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the at least one transducer is configured toconvert sound emitted by the mobile computing device to the current. 15.The method of claim 9, wherein the mobile computing device includes ahardware processor and a memory storing an energy transfer application.16. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises, beforereceiving the energy emitted by the mobile computing device via theenergy collection interface: detecting, by the mobile computing deviceand using the energy transfer application, the at least one transducerof the energy collection interface; and emitting, by the mobilecomputing device and using the energy transfer application, the energyas a type of energy convertible by the transducer to the current.